The invention relates to electrical apparatus and the positioning of electrical conductors. The positioning of electrical conductors includes (1) securing electrical conductors to prevent twisting and (2) securing electrical conductors to ease the assembly of electrical conductors and holding the assembled conductors spaced from other conductors and objects.
One application of the invention is in the connection of multiple sets of multiple conductors. It is common to connect a first set of first and second conductors to respectively first and second conductors in a second set of electrical conductors. This is, of course, routinely done with temperature sensors, electric light bulbs, motors and a multitude of other apparatus. While the present invention has particular application to temperature probe for use in an oven, it will be understood that it also has application to other apparatus. In a typical application, the first wire of a first set of first and second wires are secured by welding, brazing or soldering to the first wire of a second set of first and second wires by manually holding or securing the wires involved in a fixture. After that the second wire in the first set is secured to the second wire in the second set again by manually holding or securing the wires in a fixture. Commonly, additional structure that may be merely a sleeve of insulating material is provided to maintain the first wires of each set in spaced relationship from the second wires in the first and second sets. The positioning of the wires in fixtures during assembly and then moving them into other structure, which will maintain them in spaced relationship throughout the life of the assembly, is time consuming and expensive.
Another problem is the tendency of electrical conductors to twist and fracture. The problem is particularly acute with but not limited to foil or ribbon shaped conductors.
The prior art includes U.S. Pat. No. 4,864,184 relating to a lamp construction and a method of manufacture. The halogen lamp shown therein includes a sealed envelope of vitreous material and a lamp base that is typically a ceramic base for holding the lamp capsule. A filament is disposed within the lamp capsule and has first and second conductors that extend from the interior of the capsule. The capsule includes a press-seal that is substantially flat in which are disposed respective molybdenum foil strips extending from the respective extremities of the filament. The respective ends of the foil strips are connected to individual lead wires that extend through a quantity of cement disposed in a cup shaped ceramic base. The manner of assembly shown involves securing the respective foil conductors to the respective lead wires and then inserting the connected conductors through spaced apart holes in a ceramic base. After that, cement is placed within the ceramic base to secure the assembly together. Thus the ceramic base does not position the respective sets of conductors while they are being secured together.
In addition, the foil strips are clamped in the press-seal. The use of such a press-seal does prevent twisting of the foil strips. This approach is not, however, practical for most manufacturing operations because of the difficulty of working with molten glass or quartz.
Another problem with the prior art apparatus is that it often does not properly orient the respective electrical conductors for good contact.